How to Make Plant Crafts: You Can Do Them Yourself Too

Slender stems, bold leaf strips, plump soybeans, round rice grains... These very common plants can create surprisingly stunning effects when used in handicrafts. Do you want to know how? Then let's learn together!

One

Placemat

Materials

Stapler, scissors, white glue, palm leaf strips (39 strips), paint (purple, blue, yellow, red), paintbrush

1. Paint the 39 palm leaf strips in different colors: 12 red, 11 yellow, 6 blue, 10 purple.

2. Arrange the red and yellow palm leaf strips in an alternating pattern, then weave in the blue and purple palm leaf strips. The weaving order is: yellow over purple, red over blue.

3. Leave out 4 purple palm leaf strips and weave all the others together. Trim off the excess edges, leaving only 1 cm as a margin.

4. Fold up the edge strips and secure them with a stapler.

5. Use white glue to stick the remaining 4 palm leaf strips onto the 4 sides of the placemat, covering the staples.

Showtime

Now hurry and prepare a hearty meal, so you can use your own placemat.

You can leave the brown leaf strips unpainted, and after weaving, paint your favorite patterns on them.

Two

Gourd Garden

Materials

5 gourds, small knife, fine sandpaper, paint, rubber bands, 2 wooden sticks

1. We need 5 gourds of similar size. Take a small knife and cut a small opening in each gourd.

2. Pour out the gourd seeds inside, then smooth the opening with fine sandpaper.

3. Paint the gourds. Choose a few colors you like.

4. Arrange the gourds in a row, alternating the different colors. Place one gourd on each side of the waist of each gourd and wrap with rubber bands.

5. Wrap string around both sides of each gourd, then cut off the rubber bands.

Showtime

Insert fresh flowers into the gourds! A tiny gourd garden can make your home colorful!

Give Wings to Your Imagination (Put beans inside the gourds, and the gourds become maracas! Remember to plug the openings of the gourds with peanuts so the beans won't fall out.)

Three

Wheat Ear Hat

Materials

A large bunch of wheat ears, scissors, paintbrush, white glue, cardboard (40 cm long, 20 cm wide), black elastic cord, hole punch, red paint, compass, ruler, clothespins

1. Use a compass to draw a semicircle with a radius of 20 cm on the cardboard, then divide a 1 cm wide strip from the semicircle. Find the midpoint of the strip and draw a diagonal line there. Cut off the strip to the left of the diagonal line, keeping only the right part.

2. Apply white glue to the strip, roll the semicircle into a cone-shaped hat and glue it in place.

3. Use clothespins to hold the glued seam until the white glue is completely dry.

4. Cut off the wheat stalks and paint about half of the wheat ears red.

5. Apply white glue to the outside of the hat and stick the wheat ears onto it.

6. Continue sticking wheat ears until the whole hat is covered, making sure to alternate the red and natural-colored wheat ears. After sticking them on, press a book on the hat and wait for the glue to dry, so the wheat ears will stick more firmly.

7. Punch two holes along the edge of the brim and thread the black elastic cord through as a chin strap.

Showtime

Now, with the wheat ear hat, you don't have to fear the scorching sun!

You can also use colorful leaves or seeds instead of wheat ears to make a different hat.

Four

Fan

Materials

Palm leaf (smaller), reed stalk (40 cm long, finger-thick), sandpaper, scissors, paintbrush, paint (pomegranate red, pink, orange, yellow), white glue

1. As shown in the picture, use scissors to trim the palm leaf into a peach shape.

2. Press a few books on the trimmed palm leaf, and after the palm leaf dries, paint it pomegranate red.

3. Sand the reed stalk with sandpaper so it takes paint more easily.

4. Paint pink, red, yellow and orange stripes on the reed stalk.

5. Coat the palm leaf stem with white glue, then insert it into the reed stalk and press firmly with your fingers.

Showtime

How about it? With this little fan, even the hot summer days are not so unbearable!

You can trim the palm leaf into various shapes: triangle, butterfly, heart...

Five

Seed Box

Materials

Black watercolor pen, small lidded paper box, corn kernels, white glue, red beans, black beans, rice

1. Use the black watercolor pen to draw a car design on the lid of the small paper box.

2. Cover the car body with corn kernels, and cover the windows and wheels with black beans.

3. Stick a few rows of red beans below the wheels.

4. Cover the rest of the lid with rice, leaving no gaps.

5. Put the lid on the paper box. Use the black watercolor pen to draw a line along the edge of the lid.

6. Apply a layer of white glue to the box body below the black line, then stick corn kernels on the front and back of the box and black beans on the left and right sides.

Showtime

The seed box is done. Hurry and put your treasures in the box! You can also hide some little secrets in it!

Besides a car, you can also make designs of a house, a small flower, or a little bird. You can also try a round box!